Ford Bronco review: SUV reborn with revered name
Four features that owners should love about the revived classic with rugged appeal.
Ford engineers wanted to make it easy for neophytes to enjoy their new pursuit. There are four features key competitors can’t match:
Trail control: Think of it as adaptive cruise control for the toughest offroad trails. The driver sets a desired speed and electronic engine, transmission and brake controls maintain it over rocks, through water, and up and down the steepest wheels. The driver can concentrate on steering. Jeep doesn’t offer this, and Ford’s system is smoother than the 4Runner’s crawl control, which also manages speed. A button on the top of the dash activates trail control.
One-pedal driving: A button in the dial that selects settings for different types of terrain locks the brakes. As the driver presses the accelerator, the brakes allow the wheels to turn, stopping them when the accelerator is released. This mimics the two-foot driving method veteran off-roaders use to ease over big rocks without dropping the Bronco violently on its frame. It’s a conceptual cousin to the one-pedal driving electric vehicles use to recharge batteries, reworked to inspire confidence offroad. One-pedal driving is only available with the 2.7L V6 engine.
Trail turn assist: Back country trails are more likely to follow deer paths than the dimensions of SUVs. Some tight bends around boulders and trees require three-point or more turns. Ford’s trail turn assist addresses that by locking the rear wheel on the inside of the turn when the steering wheel is at full lock in that direction. This immobilizes the wheel, turning it into a hinge or a May pole around which the Bronco rotates.
Quiet ride: The result of many choices rather than a single new technology, the Bronco’s quiet ride is a bonus owners will enjoy en route to the trail and in daily driving. The biggest contributor is careful sealing of spaces between panels in the removable hard top, to reduce wind noise. The multipanel roof is also easier for a single person to remove than the Wrangler’s singlepiece hard top. Even at highway speeds, there was also little road noise from the 35-inch off-road tires on the Bronco First Edition I drove on a variety of roads in and around Austin, Texas.
Can a brother get a hand(le)?
The Bronco is very comfortable, but Ford’s decision to equip it with head curtain air bags eliminated one feature offroaders appreciate: Roll-bar-mounted assist handles for stepping up into the high SUV.
The curtain bags protect passengers in the front and rear seats from head impacts in side collisions, but they’re installed in the same structural rails where the handles would go. Handles on the rails would become projectiles when the air bags went off, so scratch that.
Something had to give, and Ford prioritized safety at the expense of ease of entry.
Handles midway up the B-pillars help with rear-seat access, but the front seat makes do with handles at the outer ends of the dash. They’re OK to brace yourself over bumps but too low to provide good leverage when climbing up into the vehicle.
Wide variety of models and prices
Prices for the 2021 Bronco start at $28,500 for a two-door model. The base four-door starts at $33,200.
The two-door measures 173.7 inches long; the four-door checks in at 189.4. Ford expects 70% to 80% of sales to be four-door models.
All Broncos have four-wheel drive. The base engine is a 300-horsepower turbocharged 2.3L four-cylinder. A 330-hp 2.7L bi-turbo V6 is optional. The four-cylinder comes with a sevenspeed manual or 10-speed automatic transmission. The 10-speed is standard with the V6. The manual’s first gear is a creeper, with an extremely low ratio for difficult conditions. All Broncos come with rear- and four-wheel drive.
I tested a top-of-the-line four-door First Edition Bronco that stickered at $61,715.
The Bronco competes most directly with the similarly priced Jeep Wrangler. Both the two- and four-door Broncos are longer than the Jeeps. Passenger space is comparable, but the Broncos have more cargo room.
Removable soft and hard tops are available, as are removable doors for totally open-air driving.
2021 Ford Bronco lineup and prices
Base: $28,500 two-door; $33,200 four-door
Big Bend: $33,385 two-door; $35,8800 four-door
Black Diamond: $36,050 two-door; $38,545 four-door
Outer Banks: $38,955 two-door; $41,450 four-door
Badlands: $42,095 two-door; $44,590 four-door
Wildtrak: $46,980 two-door; $49,475 four-door
First Edition: $56,915 two-door; $61,110 four-door
All prices exclude a $1,495 destination charge
Features available on 2021 Ford Bronco:
Electronic locking front- and rear differentials
Disconnecting hydraulic front stabilizer bar
360-degree camera
Trail turn assist
60/40 split rear seat
Heated front seats
Leather-trimmed seats Removable hard or soft top
Removable doors
8- or 12-inch touch screen
Wireless charging Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Navigation
Selectable on and off-road driving modes
Up to 35-inch tires 10-speaker B&O audio
Driving impressions
The four-door hardtop Bronco First Edition I tested had plenty of headroom and good storage in its front seat. The rear seat had plenty of leg and head room.
My loaded Frist Edition Bronco had leather-trimmed seats, but also hard surfaces on the dash and door tops and lightly padded armrests that were not overly impressive at its $60K-plus price.
The 2.7-liter, 6-cylinder engine provided good acceleration on road. The ride is smooth and comfortable on city streets and on the twisting roads of the Texas hill country. The electric power steering adjusts to different conditions and drive settings to provide a good response on the road without becoming finicky over rough back country surfaces.
The Bronco should be a surprisingly comfortable daily driver for commuting, errands and the like.
Off-road, the Bronco proved very capable on a variety of rock sand and clay surfaces, including climbing over significant boulders and inclines.
The trail-turn assist feature, which locks the inside rear wheel to reduce the turning radius in tight quarters, is very effective. “Three-point turns are for amateurs,” one engineer told me over dinner. The one-pedal driving feature will help beginning off-roaders match the control experts attain with two-foot driving.
The disconnecting front stabilizer bar contributes to plenty of front wheel travel over rugged territory and improves ride quality notably at low speed, even when you’re practically hopping from one big rock to another.
The 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine and 2.7-liter V6 both generate good torque, thanks to the combination of turbocharging, wide gear ratios and low ranges for scrambling.
Both Bronco engines generate more power than the Jeep’s optional 2-liter turbo, but the Bronco’s EPA fuel economy estimates trail the four-cylinder Jeep. The 2.7-liter Bronco scored an EPA rating of 19 mpg in combined city and highway driving, three mpg lower than a 2-liter Jeep.
There won’t be a hybrid Bronco for some time. The new Jeep 4xe plug-in hybrid has the edge in that area.
Jeep currently also has the fastest, more powerful model in the 470-horsepower Hemi-powered Wrangler 392. Ford is expected to challenge the Wrangler’s 4.7-second 0-60 mph time soon, if not the big V8’s outright power.
2021 Ford Bronco safety and driver assistance features
Adaptive cruise control
Automatic high beams
Blind spot and cross-traffic alerts
Lane-keeping alert and assist
Driver attention alert
Front collision alert
Pedestrian detection
Automatic front emergency braking
Hill-start assist
Evasive steering assist